The presidents of three rural public universities in Colorado are banding together to ask state legislators for millions of dollars in additional funding to recognize the distinctive challenges of regional institutions that operate in less populated areas. The three institutions, Adams State and Western Colorado Universities and Fort Lewis College, are all distanced from other four-year colleges and universities by at least two hours, and their isolation creates limitations that urban and suburban institutions don’t have, their leaders say. “While we do everything they do, we do it where it costs more,” said David Tandberg, president of Adams State, in Alamosa. “We’re fundamentally facing a different economic situation.”
